A multiplayer video game is a video game in which two or more players play in a gameplay session in a cooperative or adversarial relationship. Conventional gameplay sessions for multiplayer video games are typically bounded gameplay sessions that start and end within a given time period. Scoring for these sessions is generally based on achievement of some game objective during the bounded gameplay session (e.g., a number of “kills” in a First-Person-Shooter game).
Unfortunately, some drawbacks associated with bounded gameplay sessions may compromise the player experience. For example, when not enough players are available for a multiplayer gameplay session, those players that have expressed a desire to play may be forced to wait idly until a requisite number of players are obtained. This can be frustrating for players that are eager to play, and may diminish overall enjoyment of the video game.
One solution has been to match (or group) players quickly in an effort to commence a gameplay session without undue delay. Unfortunately, while such matching may allow a gameplay session to start sooner rather than later, it is possible that a group of players may be matched with one or more players that are not good a match, either because of a difference in skill, a poor network connection, or due to other factors, thereby resulting in a sub-optimal and perhaps unsatisfying gameplay session.
Further, once a multiplayer gameplay session has commenced, it is considered socially taboo to quit during the gameplay session because it makes the gameplay session less enjoyable for the remaining players. In a team game, for example, a player that leaves (or quits) early forces one team to finish the game shorthanded, unbalancing the gameplay. The term “rage quitting” is sometimes used in this scenario because it is assumed that leaving a gameplay session prematurely is so rude that someone only does it because he or she is having a temper tantrum. Individual gameplay sessions suffer if there are not enough players to keep the game interesting.
Additionally, because conventional multiplayer gameplay sessions typically end after a predefined time period has elapsed, or after a prescribed game event has occurred (or game objective has been reached), players who are enjoying a gameplay session (or who happen to be on a “hot streak”) are nevertheless forced to stop playing when the gameplay session ends. This can be frustrating for a player that may wish to continue playing rather than having his or her momentum stalled because some arbitrary time window has elapsed, or game objective has been reached.
These and other drawbacks exist with discrete, bounded gameplay sessions in multiplayer video games.